Hope our friends in Breckenridge are ok!

[kepdawg]

Sounds like there may have been a pretty bad tornado pass through that area!

[wyliegrad04]

heard there was up to grapefruit sized hail over in Albany/Breckenridge area ... SCARY

[ProudHornetMom]

Hearing there is a tornado on the ground...stay safe!

Oops...didn't see the earlier post. Just know we're worried for y'all.

[Old Tiger]

http://www.valdosta.edu/~mllawren/pecos.gif
:D


Seriously I hope everyone is safe and alright.

[BreckTxLonghorn]

Talked to my mom, she was ok on the west side of town, but had no news of east side. All electricity was out through town. Phones were up. She said there were 3 tornadoes (though she was pretty frazzled from it all, so it could have been one that touched down 3 times), and it hit the airport (south, slightly west), the east side, and Eolian. Again, no more news than that--I'll update as I find out more. I read about baseball sized hail, but I didn't bring that part up.


I can pretty much speak for the whole town when I say your thoughts/concerns are VERY appreciated, and please keep the land of the Buckaroo in your prayers.

[BreckTxLonghorn]

Originally posted by ProudHornetMom
Hearing there is a tornado on the ground...stay safe!

Oops...didn't see the earlier post. Just know we're worried for y'all.

Thanks for your thoughts and concerns. While I don't live there anymore, I know everyone in town would appreciate this.

[ProudHornetMom]

Weather Station is reporting heavy damage and semi trucks tossed about.

Praying...

[BreckTxLonghorn]

I had heard this was also coming to Possum Kingdom area.


Anyone in Graham receive anything?

[g$$]

Absolutely, hope all is well out that way & no one hurt.

[BreckTxLonghorn]

Updates:

Was told again 3 separate tornadoes, worst damage coming out at airport. 2 people sent to hospital as their roof caved in and house caught on fire, but it seems its not life-threatening. First estimate is millions of dollars in damage at airport. It got to the hangars and some of the planes.

Overturned truck on east side of town, no word yet on driver's condition.

Fire broke out in Gunsight, fighters are on the scene now.

Hail got to size of a quarter, nothing more. All of town and outskirts is without electricity. Lots of power lines on ground on county roads.

Again, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!

[LH Panther Mom]

I'll definitely keep the area in my prayers.

[STANG RED]

Originally posted by BreckTxLonghorn
Updates:

Was told again 3 separate tornadoes, worst damage coming out at airport. 2 people sent to hospital as their roof caved in and house caught on fire, but it seems its not life-threatening. First estimate is millions of dollars in damage at airport. It got to the hangars and some of the planes.


Do they still house a lot of refurbished one of a kind airplanes out there? I know there used to be a lot of WWI & WWII planes out there at one time. Some were some of the only planes of their type still in operation from that time period. I know their loss has no comparison to the safety of the people, but still it would be a tragedy if some of those are lost. Lots of history out there.

[Adidas410s]

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff98/LibrariesDB/080409e.jpg

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff98/LibrariesDB/080409f.jpg

From reading online...some spotters not on the scene are calling the radar presentation of the tornado that went near Breckenridge the worst they've seen since Greensburg, KS last May 4th. FYI, that was the first (and only) time an EF5 tornado has ever occured. As you can see in the two images above, the likely location of the tornado was south of town and Breckenridge escaped MAJOR damage. However, I did pick up these reports:


damage report from NWS chat room: 183 South... south of town, lots of damage, power lines down.... traffic lights in town not working, large trees uprooted... confirming 18-wheeler blocking road with TXDOT trying to clean it up.... fires due to lightning strikes... reporting multiple structural damage reports.... that's from our reporter in Breckenridge FWD


Just talked to Dave Holder. I believe he is in the group with Reed Timmer. He told me that houses have lost their roofs in Breckenridge. Let's hope that nobody is injured. They are trying to catch back up now.


Came into Breckenridge just after the tornado passed. It flipped the semi near the intersection of 2231 and highway 183. Many chasers were stuck in Breckenridge because the tornado made a northeast path through town and passed just east of the intersection of highway 67 and 180. Many power poles down throughout town and roofs ripped off of several homes.


I missed the Breckenridge tornado by less than 5 minutes. I was coming in from the west side and I was stuck in town for 15 minutes because every road out was blocked. I couldn't see the tornado because of the rain wrapping around the backside. I did see a rope dissipating to the NE of town. We drove around much of the town on the SE side and a few houses had severe damage, and the damage path was quite wide through the SSE side of town

[GreenMonster]

Originally posted by Adidas410s
the worst they've seen since Greensburg, KS last May 4th. FYI, that was the first (and only) time an EF5 tornado has ever occured.

missing key words here: Since this technology has become available. Prior to the technological advances of the past 10 years there was no way to determine the actual strength of a tornado, it was all guess work. I think Injured can concur the the 1979 tornado in Wichita Falls was rather impressive in it's own right and we must not leave out the monster tornado that ripped Moore, Oklahoma a new one in the 90's. So, to clarify it was the first (and only) time an EF5 tornado has ever been recorded and confirmed electronically.

[Adidas410s]

Originally posted by GreenMonster
missing key words here: Since this technology has become available. Prior to the technological advances of the past 10 years there was no way to determine the actual strength of a tornado, it was all guess work. I think Injured can concur the the 1979 tornado in Wichita Falls was rather impressive in it's own right and we must not leave out the monster tornado that ripped Moore, Oklahoma a new one in the 90's. So, to clarify it was the first (and only) time an EF5 tornado has ever been recorded and confirmed electronically.
The enhanced fujita scale was designed to more accurately measure wind speeds of tornados. Wind speeds are still based on a damage scale. However, it was believed that the original fujita scale grossly overstated wind speeds...so 5 years of research by meteorologists at Texas Tech (w/ help from elsewhere) went in to developing the enhanced scale.

It will be really cool some day if/when we're able to accurately measure from inside a tornado. However, with their unpredictability and short life span...this likely won't take place in the forseeable future. :(

[Adidas410s]

Here's the only pic I've found of the tornado so far. Unfortunately, it's tough to see because the tornado was rain wrapped. The center and right side of the picture give you a pretty good idea of the funnel before it touched down.

http://www.sky-chaser.com/image/mwcl2008/m9fun1.jpg

A picture of an overturned semi on Hwy 183

http://www.sky-chaser.com/image/mwcl2008/m9flip.jpg

[Rabbit'93]

Originally posted by Adidas410s
Here's the only pic I've found of the tornado so far. Unfortunately, it's tough to see because the tornado was rain wrapped. The center and right side of the picture give you a pretty good idea of the funnel before it touched down.

http://www.sky-chaser.com/image/mwcl2008/m9fun1.jpg

A picture of an overturned semi on Hwy 183

http://www.sky-chaser.com/image/mwcl2008/m9flip.jpg dumb question alert***** if the storm hit before dawn why does the photo look like it was taken in the day time?

[kepdawg]

Originally posted by Rabbit'93
dumb question alert***** if the storm hit before dawn why does the photo look like it was taken in the day time?

It hit yesterday afternoon.

[Rabbit'93]

Originally posted by kepdawg
It hit yesterday afternoon. See I told you it was a dumb question......

I thought it was the same system that came through DFW this morning....

[kepdawg]

Originally posted by Rabbit'93
See I told you it was a dumb question......

I thought it was the same system that came through DFW this morning....

This is from the first system that ended up going north of DFW.

[BreckTxLonghorn]

Electricity was still out as of 7am this morning.


School has been cancelled, and I would think most businesses are closed as well. Let's hope the electricity gets back up soon so that the smaller grocery stores in town don't have all their perishables go to waste. That would not be a good economic turn.:(

[ProudHornetMom]

Amazing pictures. Thanks for sharing them.

We lived in Electra when the 1979 tornado hit WF. I am a nurse and worked at the Vernon Hospital. Vernon was hit before WF and 12 people killed. I was a young nurse and cared for people with unimaginable injuries. The only way we could find our way to the hospital was to follow John Deer tractor pieces that were strown along the high way. All the landmarks were gone. The tornado that hit WF was amazing and I'll always remember the strength both communities had in rebuilding.

I have lots of WF Tornado stories and the aftermath. I've been spooked by storms every since. :(

I'm glad Breckenridge missed the full assault of the tornado and hope things get back to normal as soon as possible.